


Calculated Drift

by FuqboiBird



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, I don't want to spoil too much, Selectively Mute Link, i will add tags as we go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 14:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11187129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuqboiBird/pseuds/FuqboiBird
Summary: When Ganon, a beast from another dimension, appeared, it seemed as though nothing could stop it. When the world seemed to be at it's end, the world decided to fight fire with fire, a beast with beast. They created Jaegers.Now, it's years later, and it seems as though the end of the world is inevitable. The few jaeger teams left have decided to team up in a last ditch attempt to kill Ganon, and stop the world from crumbling.





	1. We Created Beasts

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so hyped for this guys, you have no idea

No one could have anticipated Ganon. It simply appeared one day and began to destroy everything in it’s path. It was primordial evil from another dimension; hellbent on destruction. The government threw everything it had at the beast, but nothing could subdue it. It destroyed three cities in three days, then disappeared as quickly as it came. Everyone hoped that it was gone for good- or, at least, for a while. They were wrong.

It returned, stronger than the last time. It was unstoppable. It was a week before it disappeared once more. In that time span, millions died. Entire cities has been leveled. The world was at a loss; it seemed as though there was no way to stop the beast. In secret, Shekiah scientists began research into a way to combat the beast. The attacks continued, and society was beginning to crumble. It seemed as though it was the very end of the world. That was when the Shekiah unveiled their weapons.

Jaegers.

Giant, mechanical beasts capable of holding back Ganon. With the jaegers, the world was able to fight back. With the jaegers, the world was able to start winning. For a while, Ganon seemed less of a threat, and more of an inconvenience. The world was no longer afraid. Jaeger pilots were regarded as champions; heros. Jaeger pilots were indestructible- or so it seemed. The world saw it that way for years. Jaeger pilots were good- no, fantastic- at what they did. It seemed as though they were unstoppable on the path to defeating Ganon, not just driving him back. The world dreamed of peace, and it seemed fast approaching.

That is, until the first jaeger failed to stop the beast. Thousands died before another team was sent in to help. The pilots were ostracized and ridiculed by the public. They were shamed for failing. They had disgraced the program, failed their people, and allowed innocent lives to be lost. A team losing was an anomaly. That is, until it happened again.

And again.

And again.

Until the world was losing once again.

* * *

 

**[LOC: JAEGER PILOT TRAINING FACILITY, YR:2017]**

“How dare they?” Zelda yelled, slamming a fist on the table. Link flinched, “How could they decommission us? They need us!” Her eyes flashed, the fury in them focused directly at the table. She couldn’t look at him anymore. It was his fault they were being pulled.

“This… It’s unfair,” she said, unclenching her fist, and he heard the unsaid accusation. _This is your fault; you’re the one who put us in this position; why can’t you just remember._

He knew she wouldn’t say it out loud, but he felt it through the drift. She felt guilty for even thinking it, but it was true. It was painfully true; _he was_ the reason they were decommissioned. Because he couldn’t remember anything aside from who he was and Zelda- and the drift was the only reason he could remember that. He had doomed her career as a pilot. Link crossed his arms on the table and laid his head on them. He heard Zelda walk over, and felt her lay a hand on his shoulder.

“Link… You know this isn’t your fault, right? The accident-” _Ah yes, the accident_ , Link thought glumly to himself. A shorting in the wiring of the main console was all it took for them to be grounded for life. He doesn’t actually remember anything about the accident, at least, from his end. He did, however, get flashes of the memory from Zelda- of her looking over, only to watch the console malfunction and electrocute him. It took only thirty seconds for the control team to shut off the jaeger, but at that point, he was lucky to be alive.

“-The accident could have happened to anyone.”

“ _I know_ ,” he signed to her, not raising his head, “ _but it happened. And it ruined our chances of becoming pilots. It ruined your chance_.”

“Oh, Link, I don’t care that we might never be pilots. I’m just glad you're alive,” She said, forcefully pulling him into a hug. He clung to her, burying his face in her shoulder, guilt clawing at him. He didn’t want to hold her back, to prevent her from becoming a pilot. 

That night, he quietly slid out of his bunk, careful not to wake Zelda. He quickly dressed before dragging his duffle bag out from under his bunk, looking up every so often to ensure that she was still asleep. He threw what clothes he had left into the duffle; zipping it closed, he slung it over his shoulder with a deep, final sigh. He headed for the door, but paused in in front of the cork board that hung next to it. It was covered in pictures of the two of them- Zelda’s favourite thing beside jaegers was her camera. She insisted on a picture of them in every location they visited.

He pulled the thumbtack out of one of the more recent pictures; a picture of the two of them standing at the feet of a jaeger. With a remorse-filled smile, he shoved the picture in his pocket with a promise to remember, opened the door, and disappeared into the night.

* * *

 

**[LOC: KAKARIKO BASE, YR: 2027]**

Zelda sat outside the conference room, idly listening to Impa discuss the jaeger program with the various world leaders while she watched the Windblight team fight Ganon on the rickety old TV that hung from the ceiling. There was no sound, instead, the news station commentary ran along the bottom of the screen in blocky, white text that was off by several seconds to the live footage being shown. Or, at least, the text seemed to be off, at least to Zelda.

The only sounds aside from the muffled discussion from the conference room was the disconcerting buzzing of the lights above and Zelda’s foot tapping anxiously against the metal floor. She looked away from the TV, not wanting to watch any longer. She didn’t want to be watching if they lost another team. She had already seen too many people die. Instead, she pulled her slate out of the worn canvas back that sat at her feet.

Turning on the slate, she quickly flipped through the notifications from the various departments. The Waterblight and Thunderblight teams had arrived this morning. Fireblight were supposed to arrive in the evening. Windblight- well, she would see. Internally, Zelda knew that she had no real reason to doubt the two pilots abilities. They were reliable fighters, and they had a good track record. One of the best.

Still, Zelda had seen even the best fall under the right circumstances. She had enough reason to worry as she did reason to not. The sound of frantic footsteps coming up the hall broke her out of her worried reverie, and she looked up just inside to see the door open. On the other side of the door stood Saki, tan face ashen, eyes wide in distress. Tulin stood next to her, hand tightly gripping his mother’s pants. His face, while concerned, did not convey the same amount of stress that his mother’s did.

Zelda stood, dropping her slate back into the bag, as the other woman rushed in. She placed a hand on the other woman’s arm and they both looked up at the TV screen, although Zelda didn’t really want to look, for fear of seeing the worst. She figured Saki didn’t really want to look either, for the same reasons.

“They said you would be here,” Saki breathed, not tearing her eyes away from the screen, “How long?”

“Not too long, they should be fine,” Zelda said, patting the other on the arm. Saki sighed heavily, collapsing into one of the old plastic chairs and running her hand through her faded bubblegum pink hair.

“I didn’t- I didn’t know until I touched down. Here,” She said, and Zelda sat down in a chair next to her. Saki pulled Tulin into her lap and held him close. He seemed rather unperturbed by the whole situation, somehow.

There was really no use in Zelda offering the other woman empty reassurances. She knew as well as Zelda of the danger involved, perhaps even more. While Zelda was losing friends, co workers, warriors, Saki was potentially losing a husband.

They sat in terse silence, eyes glued to the TV, for fifteen more minutes before Windblight finally drove off Ganon. Zelda let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding; she had no idea what she would have done if Windblight hadn’t succeeded. Saki offered her a shaky smile, which Zelda hesitantly returned. They sat together for several minutes before Saki decided to take her leave.

“I’m going to go wait for them to get back,” she said, gesturing to the door, and Zelda nodded with an understanding smile. Not long after Saki left, the chatter from the conference room ceased, and Impa emerged, a grim look on her face.

“Well, how did it go?” Zelda asked urgently, grabbing her bag and standing. Impa only frowned and shook her head. They began to walk out of the waiting room and down the corridor towards the main control room. While they walked, Impa began to explain.

“In the light of the relatively smooth introduction of the Guardians to the general populace, the UN has decided to shut down all remaining branches of the jaeger program aside from this one,” Impa stated gravely. Zelda’s eyes widened in shock.

“No, they can’t do that! Don’t they realise that the Guardians were meant as a supplementary attack force?”

“I tried to explain that, yes, but they firmly believe that the jaeger program is dying due to human error. They believe a more… automated approach would be better.”

“The program is only dying because our _pilots_ keep dying,” Zelda exclaimed in a tone what was both disgusted and irate. Impa only nodded sadly.

“Did you,” Zelda’s voice dropped to a whisper, “Did you tell them about the plan?”

“Yes, but even that was unable to convince them. We don’t have enough teams to carry out the plan, and the UN is unable to come up with any more pilots due to the academy being closed.”

Zelda paused, wracking her brain for a solution. They only needed one more team, but where could they even find any more jaeger pilots? Most jaeger pilots were dead at this point, or unable to fight if they weren't. After several moments of consideration, it hit her. “I could pilot the final jaeger.”

Impa gave a slight laugh, but upon realising that Zelda was serious, seemed to consider it. After several moments of silence, Impa only said “You would need a copilot.”

Zelda considered the presence at the back of her mind, the one that had never really left, and smiled to herself.

“I already have one.”

“Well then, why didn’t you say so before? Where are they?” Impa stated with a slight chuckle.

“I’m going to need a helicopter,” was all that Zelda said in response.

“Very well,” Impa said with a nod of her head, and watched as Zelda began to speed-walk down the hall. Before she had gone too far, Impa called out a question.

“Do you know where you’re going?” At that, Zelda stopped, her fists clenching as she turned to face the other woman.

“To find my brother,” She stated, determination giving her tone a hard edge. With that said, Zelda turned down a hall and left. Impa watched her go, a contemplative look on her face.


	2. I Have A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda finds Link.

Link, after several months of wandering the country in an attempt to “find himself” and regain his memories, found himself in the somewhat bustling town of Hateno. This was, incidentally, where he would end up staying for the duration of his self-imposed exile. The people there were friendly, for the most part, and extremely forgiving of his lack of memory. He helped around town, doing odd jobs for reasonable pay. It was not long before he was a familiar face to all and a welcomed member of the community. His memories were still few and far between, but he was making some progress. 

It wasn’t long before he had his own house, and his own place in the community. They saw him as dependable, level-headed, kind. He did good work, and always tried to lend a helping hand where he could. The people of Hateno wondered about him, as people of small towns often do. They wondered who he was, and where he had come from. They wondered why we only rarely spoke, why he had no memories of his past. They, of course, kept this wondering to themselves, behind closed doors. They wouldn’t want to cause any undue unrest or aggravation. 

Link, if he were to be honest with himself, enjoyed his life. He enjoyed Hateno, which usually had decent weather, and he enjoyed the company of the people, who were decent in their own right. He enjoyed helping in the small ways, such as helping with the lawn work, finding lost cats (which were never as lost as their owners claimed they were), and painting houses. If he were to continue to be honest with himself, he would also admit that being a jaeger pilot was never really something that he wanted. 

Being a pilot had always been Zelda’s dream. She was much more of the save the world type than he was, really. She had always had grand notions of heroism, and the life that came along with it. She believed that you had you make a grand gesture to save the world. Link found himself to be more appreciative of the small ways of help. He had always admired her determination to save the word. Now, he missed it. 

It was a gloomy day, and Link sat in his kitchen, nursing a cup of tea as he contemplated his sister and the life he had left behind. He knew that she had continued on her personal endeavour to save the world. He had gathered as much from the vague memories and feelings that occasionally came through the drift. He also knew, based on the news reports of the dwindling number of jaeger pilots, that she was failing. And, knowing her, she was frustrated. And a frustrated Zelda could make some questionable decisions. 

From the other room, the doorbell rang. 

Link sat his cup on the counter and hurried to the door. He wondered who it could be, as most people tended to stay home on days such as this. He swung open the door and came face to face with the very cross expression of his sister. 

“May I come in?” Zelda asked, staring him down with her arms crossed, a thunderous expression on her face. Link had enough sense to know that it wasn’t really a request, and stood aside, allowing her to enter. Before long, they were seated across from each other at Link’s kitchen table, both clutching drink’s of their own. Link nervously sipped his tea, and was disappointed to find that it had gone cold. 

“So,” Zelda began, her tone dangerously neutral, “You’ve been in Hateno this whole time, have you?”

Link sheepishly nodded. 

“That is only three hours away from Kakariko base, where I have been stationed for,” She paused, her face scrunching up in mock consideration, “What, nine years?”

Link raised his hands to explain, but Zelda cut him off with a fierce look. 

“I have wondered where you were for ten years, Link! I let you go, but I worried. And I wondered. And you were right beneath my nose!” She was breathing heavily by the time she finished her short tirade, and began wiping her eyes, trying not to cry. The guilt Link had felt came rushing back. This was, once again, his fault. But he had no time to stop and feel guilty. If Zelda had come here, it meant that something was going to happen. Something big. 

“ _ Why did you come back? Why now? _ ” Link signed, and Zelda took a deep breath, steeling herself. Really, Link already knew why she was here, and Zelda likely that he knew too. But he needed to hear her say it. 

“We need you to come back, Link.  _ I _ need you to come back.” She paused, looking out the window at the rain that had begun to fall. Then, with a surprising sense of finality, she delivered the words that Link never thought that he would hear.

“We need to pilot a jaeger.”

 

The flight to Kakariko Base would not usually be a long one, however, the terse silence between the two siblings made the minutes drag on. By the time the helicopter landed you could cut the tension in the cabin with a knife. Despite the underlying issues that the two had, when they stepped out onto the wet tarmac, they stepped out as a unit. They were rushed inside, where they were greeted by Impa, who wore a knowing smile. 

“It is nice to finally meet you, young man,” Impa said, addressing Link, who nodded and waved in response. Impa then turned to Zelda, her tone strictly that of business “Windblight will be arriving in two hours. We’ll have a meeting then. I expect you to be ready.”

With those ominous words said, Impa turned and disappeared into the crowd of the jaeger bay. Zelda watched her go, clenching her jaw before turning to Link, who gave her a confused look. Zelda only shook her head and began walking in the direction of the control center with great determination. The control center resembled a large, metal watchtower, which was raised high above the busy floor, allowing the people inside a good vantage point for controlling the chaos below. Link jogged after Zelda, who was walking on with little regard for if he was following or not. As he followed her, he looked around in amazement at the already docked jaegers and the organized chaos that surrounded them. 

“I’m going to show you to our bunk. Then, we’re going to go talk to the other pilots,” Zelda stated, pulling out her slate and flipping through it as they walked. Link tapped her shoulder to get her to look up.

“ _ The other pilots _ ?” he signed, and Zelda gave a little head shake and began aggressively typing on her slate.

“Yes, the other pilots. We’ve assembled the last teams of pilots for this mission. So far, we have the Waterblight, Fireblight, and Thunderblight teams here. I’ll introduce you to their pilots. I’m sure you’ll like them. The real question is going to be how well we can work together. Teamwork will be vital to this mission, after all.” Link listened to Zelda’s explanation with a bewildered look on his face. Really, her explanation had left him with more questions than answers, which he then made apparent. 

“I’ve got a plan, Link,” She said, whirling around to face him, a half smile on her face. She grabbed him by the arm, “I’ve got a plan to defeat Ganon once and for all.”

After that rather startling revelation, the walk to the bunks was silent, aside from Zelda’s rather aggressive typing. This allowed Link to reflect of what he had just heard, as well as wonder what he had gotten into. Really, he wasn’t surprised that Zelda had come up with a world saving plan. He was concerned with the details of that plan, however. What could Zelda have come up with that they haven’t tried before?

“Here it is,” Zelda said, stopping at one of the many doors and unlocking it, “Just throw your stuff on your bed. We’re headed to the training room next.”

Link walked inside the small room, looking around. In the corner, there sat a desk covered in papers and diagrams- Zelda’s work. The bunks were shoved into the corner of the room, next to the door that lead to the bathroom. He noticed that the bottom bunk was empty, and turned to give Zelda a confused but somewhat amused look. She gave an innocent seeming half shrug in response.

“You like the bottom bunk,” Was all that she said in response. With that being said, he dropped the duffle onto the bed, and they left.

The training room was only a few minutes walk from their room, thankfully. Upon arriving, Link was greeted with two very tall, red haired individuals sparing. The two individuals, a man and a woman, seemed to dance around each other as they parried and blocked in turn. It took several minutes before the woman was able to pin the man, who, after she had helped him off the mat, turned to face them with a smile.

“Zelda! It has been a while, has it not? Who did you bring with you?”

“It has been a while, Mipha, and this is my brother, Link. Link, this is Mipha, Waterblight pilot.” Zelda said, and Mipha smiled sweetly at Link as she wrapped a towel around her neck.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Link! This is my brother, Sidon. He pilots Waterblight with me.” Mipha states, gesturing to her brother, who gave a wide smile in response.

“It is most wonderful to meet you, Link! I would shake your hand, but I’m sure you would rather not do that right now, given my current state,” Sidon exclaimed, giving an enthusiastic smile that Link could only awkwardly return. 

“I was unaware you had a brother, Zelda. Why, might I ask, is he here now?” Mipha queried as she pulled a water bottle from a bag and began to drink. 

“Well, it’s for the mission. He’s my copilot,” Zelda stated, and before any further questions could be asked, her slate began aggressively beeping, distracting everyone from her revelation. She quickly pulled it out of her bag, quickly examined it, and then shoved it back in. When she looked around she was met with three sets of rather expectant eyes.

“Windblight is here sooner than we thought. Clean up, and meet in the conference room in the control center.” Zelda stated, beginning to leave. 

“You’re going to tell us the plan, then?” Sidon asked, and Zelda nodded grimly. 

“Yes, but I’m afraid you’re not going to like it.” With that said, she swept out of the room, and Link followed, anticipation and worry leaving his stomach in knots. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, the plan. And we get a little more Zelda-y, also known as we bring a little fantasy into the plot. Also, I take issue with Mipha being so short and her brother being so tall. So, I made her a giant as well. It's only right.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea, and it just seemed so good I knew I had to write it. Hopefully you guys like it as much as I do, because it's quite quickly becoming my baby. I'm just really exited to write this, idk.


End file.
